This invention relates to the navigation of medical devices in the body, and in particular to methods of and apparatus for steering medical devices in body lumens such as blood vessels.
This invention relates to the navigation of medical devices in the body, and in particular to methods of and apparatus for steering medical devices in body lumens such as blood vessels.
Automated or semi-automated medical device navigation has recently emerged as a major advancement in medical technology. Once such form is magnetic navigation, in which external magnets apply a magnetic field of a selected direction to an operating region in a subject to orient the distal end of a magnetically responsive medical device in the operating region. Other forms of remote navigation include systems employing mechanical and electrostrictive movement to remotely orient the distal end of the medical device.
While these technologies, and in particular magnetic navigation technology, are well developed, improvement can still be made in the ways these navigations systems are controlled to orient the distal end of the medical device in the appropriate orientation. In particular it is desirable facilitate the control of navigation systems for quick and easy navigation along a desired path through a body lumen, such as through the subject's vasculature.